TEXAS, USA — Figures released by the Texas Workforce Commission show the labor market in the nine Central Texas counties served by Workforce Solutions Rural Capital Area continued to improve, sliding down to 3.6%, after dropping to 3.9% in August.
Although unemployment rates continue to decrease, many businesses are still in need of employees. This means it is a jobseekers' market, and Paul Fletcher, the CEO of Workforce Solutions Rural Capital Area, says businesses are adding even more benefits to get employees to join their companies.
“I think we're going to continue to see employers trying to evolve and thinking of new ways to bring people into their industry, whether it's through flexible scheduling. It's not just higher wages that bring people in – creating better opportunities for childcare in some of those industries,” explained Fletcher.
The local economy added 5,923 jobs from August to September, with employment rising by 36,737 jobs year-to-year. The 3.6% unemployment rate in the nine-county area represented 21,285 residents seeking jobs. The region’s unemployment rate remained below Texas’s (4.9%) and the national (4.6%) rates, which both saw drops in September as well.
All counties within the Rural Capital Area region saw their unemployment rates decline in September.
Employment numbers have now reached what we had pre-pandemic in February of 2020. But the issue is that our area has grown a lot since then, which has created the need for more workers so that companies can keep up with the growing demands of their industries.
“If you're looking for a job right now, there's a lot of opportunity. And if you're looking for something that you don't feel like you have the right skills or qualifications, there are tremendous opportunities right now to obtain those skills really at very low or no cost to you,” said Fletcher.
You can learn more about the trainings and resources offered through Workforce Solutions Rural Capital Area by clicking here.
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